Alicia Malone

OF TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES

As you settle more into the job, are there certain personal-favorite movies that you’re especially looking forward to introducing as a relatively new Turner Classic Movies host?

I’ve been lucky in that I’ve already been able to introduce “The Apartment,” because that is my all-time favorite movie. I felt so excited to do it, I was quite giddy! I would really love to introduce “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” because back in Australia before there was TCM, we had a guy who was also a film critic and would introduce classic movies on TV late at night. I loved hearing his intros, so I would record them and listen to them backward and forward until I wore out the tape. I knew every word ...but it annoyed me when he got one of the quotes in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” wrong, so now, I would love to introduce that film. That would be a full-circle moment.

Since you’re from Australia, is it logical that you’d find particular pleasure in introducing films from your homeland on TCM?

I’ve gotten to introduce things like “Breaker Morant” and “Picnic at Hanging Rock” on FilmStruck (TCM’s sister streaming service), and I think my accent got really strong during those intros. It was like, “G’day! We’re watching Australian movies.” In Australia, the film industry grew much more in the ‘90s – which is too recent for TCM, but I would love to introduce “Picnic at Hanging Rock” there. Every time there’s an Australian actor or director in an intro, I have to mention where they’re from, as sort of a tip of the hat. I always say, “... and ‘Aussie’ Rod Taylor.”